


Pestilence

by blackat_greneys



Series: Horsemen's Reins [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Ebola - Freeform, Flu, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Freeform, Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, One Piece Big Bang 2016, Pneumonia, References to Illness, Yellow Fever, dysgeusia, graphic imagery of severe illness symptoms, mentions of specific illnesses, typhus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-01 12:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6520408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackat_greneys/pseuds/blackat_greneys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Usopp learned over the years that making rounds at the hospitals wasn't the funnest or best part of his job. It tended to be just mixing known illnesses and/or diseases together to make a person worse. Which, sure, as Pestilence was all kinds of fun, but it was the making up of new things that really got Usopp excited. He loved creating random things that he called ‘too-scared-to-poop’ disease, or ‘there-is-no-reason-to-have-a-nose-bleed’ illness.</p><p>Most of the time when Usopp tried out one of his new diseases no one could figure it out for weeks, sometimes months, or even after the patient had already passed away. But this young doctor was able to do it in a couple days. There was no way that Usopp was going to let this young man get the better of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pestilence meets his match

**Author's Note:**

> Pestilence's story is nauseating and icky.
> 
> Please be cautious if you have any triggers associated with these things. If I have left something out of the tags please inform me so I can add it. Thank you :) and read safe!
> 
> (it does end happy)
> 
> Also please inform me if I have any spelling, grammar, or tense mistakes. I didn't have time for someone to beta for me (I have had a very busy several months) so all mistakes are mine and I would like to fix them. I did quick editing so I know I have some. Thanks!
> 
> Art is by [aryable](http://aryable.tumblr.com) on tumblr!! make sure you show her your love!!

Usopp whisked into the next hospital room in the corridor, his robes flapped around his ankles even though he didn't walk. _One of the beauties of being a Horseman of the Apocalypse, no need to walk or use doors._ Even though Usopp tended to do that anyway, it just felt right.

_Hmmm, what do you have?_ Usopp wondered as he quickly skimmed over the patient's medical records that hung on the door. _A severe case of pneumonia, huh. Well, shall we add something to it?_ Usopp sifted through the various fleas that rode along on his white blanket that he has currently thrown over his arm.

He used to have a white horse that he rode, however, let's just say, that it suffered from too many infectious fleas riding it and ended up catching 'the too-much-work' disease that Usopp suffered from constantly. He had debated for many years before deciding that just using a blanket to ride on and house his illnesses was better than anything living. At least he didn't eat his horse like Famine did.

It was during the Black Plague era that he got the brilliant idea for carrying his illnesses in fleas, since that was how he ended up spreading the Bubonic Plague in the first place. However he had lost the horse shortly after. _Worst decision to make when you ride an animal around_ , he had chastised himself for that idea in the years it took him to decide on the blanket. It was easier than having to sift through a bag for his little vials and what not.

_Stupid mask won't let me see the fleas._ With frustration Usopp pushed his plague mask up to sit on his forehead revealing his face and longer than normal nose, which in turn caused his crown to tip back onto his fluff of hair almost falling to the floor. _Stupid things I have to wear bothering the things I want to wear._ He shoved the crown back on his head that made his blanket slip to the floor of the hospital room. It all pulled a loaded sigh from Usopp's lungs.

When he was brought into creation he had been gifted three material things, as were his brothers. All four of them got a horse; Usopp was given a bow and crown, War a sword and shield, Famine got scales and a hat, and Death was given a scythe and cloak. The rest of their outfit they got to choose. Last Usopp saw of War he was a Viking, Death was still only in his cloak, and Famine was still naked with just the stupid straw hat on his head. Usopp didn't understand that gift. Usopp had a love for the doctor's outfits from the Black Plague area. A crow mask covering their face, with the glass goggles attached, and a long robe down to their feet. It didn't help them much, but it was the first disease doctors outfit that he had really liked.

Bending down he gathered his blanket that caused the bow strung across his chest and back to pull at the movement. He technically didn't need the bow anymore since he had his fleas now, but it was the nostalgia of it that made Usopp keep it. Firing a disease into someone was a thing of the past, now it was all about the bite. Not a vampires bite like all those stupid teenage girls wanted, but the animal bite whose saliva contained anything and everything from the common cold, to AIDS, to rabies, to the flu. He had something that did it all.

_Now which flea do I want to give you._ Usopp pondered about it, skimming over the flea options shown before him. _Not something too debilitating, you already have that._ Usopp tapped his finger against his chin as he thought. _Maybe just a stomach virus. Dude can hardly breath as it is._ With choice in hand Usopp picked up the flea and placed it on the man's arm above his blankets. He watched as the flea bit down and then disappears with a small pop sound. _Now you will be all kinds of gross for the nurses,_ Usopp thought as he floated his way to the door to stick his head through it and into the corridor.

Usopp had learned over the years that making rounds at hospitals like this usually weren't the funnest or best part of his job. It tended to be just doing what he did to that man, mixing known illnesses and/or diseases together to make the person worse. Which, sure, as Pestilence was all kinds of fun, but it was the making up of new things that really got Usopp excited for his job. He loved creating random things that he would call ‘too-scared-to-poop’ disease and ‘there-is-no-reason-to-have-a-nose-bleed’ illness.

Okay, so maybe the names weren't the best, but they were things that Usopp had made and even tried on people before. The poop one ended badly. It's not something Usopp likes to think about. But the nosebleed one happened in this hospital only about a week ago and the young doctor who took the patient was able to help them within a couple days. Usopp had never had that happen before. Most of the time when he tried out one of his new diseases no one could figure it out for weeks, sometimes months, or even after the patient had already passed away. But this young doctor did it in a couple days. Maybe it wasn't the most complicated of illnesses for Usopp to give someone, but that wasn't the point.

The point was that the young man seemed to be able to cure whatever Usopp sent his way and it was starting to really bother Usopp. He hated spending this much time in a hospital but there was no way that he was going to let the young man get the better of him.

As if on que the young doctor appeared at the end of the hallway moving quickly towards the room Usopp's head poked out of. This had been Usopp's life for the past week. Make the young doctors patients worse and see what he did about it.

And every time he managed to figure out the new problem quickly and combat it.

Usopp watched the young doctor's head of curly light brown hair bob around as he quieted the machines around his patient and begun the assessment. Like always the young man figured it out too quickly. _Wha… How… I…_ Usopp found himself stuck in a loop of thoughts. The young man only looked at one or two places on his patient before he figured out why he was vomiting all over his shoes.

_Need something new_. With that thought in mind Usopp slipped through the wall leading into the corridor and floated his way down to the end, having nurses, visitors, and anyone else in the hall slip right through him. _One of the beauties of being incorporeal,_ Usopp thought as he phased into the young doctor's office. Tony T. Chopper was the name across the door.

Inside the office there were books from every medical profession available and even more on different types of illnesses and diseases. _The doctor, Chopper,_ Usopp reminded himself, _needs to get a life outside of medicine sometime._

Stuffing himself into the far corner near the ceiling, the spot Usopp claimed for himself when he decided that Chopper was his medical rival, Usopp began sifting through his fleas and decided what ailments he wanted to take from them to add to a new one. There was abdominal pain, always an Usopp favorite only just below coughing blood. _Add those two together_. _Fever is too common._ Sweaty palms? _Might as well._ Bleeding excrement? _Hmmm, bleeding from both top and bottom, it's a bit much but perfect for this doctor. Let's see what else._

The door to the office opened to reveal a rather smelly and dirty Dr. Chopper. Usopp vaguely watched the man change into some other clothes before he sat down at his desk and made notes on something. Usopp didn't pay much attention to the man, but Horsemen in general did show a predilection for not caring about the people they haunt. _Not like War ever does, or Death. They are the most general about the ones they inflict._ Its Famine and Usopp that tended to follow individuals.

Famine always made it a game. Learning about the person he was following before he made them destroy themselves with their greed. Usopp tended to follow a person just to see how the illness or disease affected them. Guess that made Chopper different. _Maybe I should pay attention to him more,_ Usopp realized as he lifted his eyes too watch Chopper type something on his computer screen before he got up and, most likely, went to another patient's room.

Finally Usopp had a new flea. _What to name you,_ Usopp pondered as he went to find one of Chopper's healthier patients. _Maybe ‘what-is-all-this-fluid-coming-out-of-me-for’ disease._ A stupid smile flitted over Usopp's face as he went into another room where a sleeping patient laid. _Perfect name._ Usopp set the flea loose.


	2. Pestilence gets frustrated

Usopp couldn't believe it. Four days. _Four days!_ That was all it took for Chopper to find a way to combat Usopp’s ‘what-is-all-this-fluid-coming-out-of-me-for’ disease.

 _How does he do that?!_ Usopp screamed to himself as he took off his crow mask and threw it across the hospital room. He watched it bounce off the floor and float through the wall under the window to land somewhere outside. _Might as well leave it there_ , Usopp thought as he watched Chopper administer some… thing to his patient that must help them. _It was getting in the way of me being able to smell whatever people have._ A sigh escaped him as Usopp realized he was going to need to create a brand new disease, again. He went back to his corner in Chopper's office to make something new.

Yet again, all that Usopp made was combated by Chopper. For some of the patients it took Chopper minutes, for others days, and for very few weeks, but he did it. Chopper found ways to combat them and even prevent some of them from being caught by others.

Usopp couldn't figure it out. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how Chopper could do it. Usopp had now spent months at the hospital trying to get the young doctor to get stumped by something, or even give up. 

_Nothing seems to be working!_ In an act of utter desperation Usopp decided that maybe, just maybe, if it was Chopper that was infected with something than he might get stumped. Sifting through his blanket of fleas Usopp decided that the first time he was going to infect Chopper it was going to be with something already around and simple. _A 24 hour stomach virus out to do it._

It did nothing. Usopp followed Chopper around the hospital and at his home for the next three days and Chopper didn't even get a little stomach queasy. _Maybe he takes something for that already._ Usopp decided to go a little harder. _The flu it is!_

Again, it did nothing. Not a runny nose in sight. No rise in temperature. Nothing. _How is this happening!_ Usopp made sure to watch the flea that bit Chopper while he was sleeping. _It even popped away and everything._ Usopp couldn't remember Chopper taking anything for illnesses, fevers, or the such. He couldn't think of any possible answer to what was happening.

Usopp remembered having a conversation once with Famine about how there was someone that wasn't susceptible to his manipulations until Famine realized he wasn't targeting the person's true desired object but the one that he wanted others to think he had. Something with Helen of Troy or maybe it was Achilles. Usopp didn't remember, he was elsewhere in the world at the time. But the point was that maybe Usopp just hasn't found the thing that Chopper was susceptible to. Neither the flu or a stomach virus worked. _Maybe something a little tougher and not from around the area. Yellow Fever you have a new person to play with!_

Usopp waited several days, just in case the flu decided to show up, before he sent one of his Yellow Fever fleas into Choppers bed. He watched as it bit the sleeping man and then popped out of existence, meaning it was transmitted. _Now comes the waiting and watching_ , Usopp thought to himself as Chopper's alarm went off hours later.

Three days pass by, then six. _Incubation over,_ Usopp thought after the sixth and waited to see how Chopper was going to handle it.

Nothing happened on the seventh day and on the eighth Chopper was tired and didn't each much, but that was it. Nothing else. No vomiting, no muscle pain, no fever, or headache. Just symptoms that could mean Chopper was just sleepy and stressed. 

_Uggghhh_ , Usopp's hands reached to his hair and pulled at the roots in frustration. _How?!_ He wanted to scream. Wanted everyone in the hospital to hear him yell at this man, who shuffled around without a problem. Usopp knew no one would hear him if he did, so what was the point.

 _Maybe I need something different, something that deals with one of the senses._ Usopp searched through his fleas for the ones less rarely used before he found it. _Dysgeusia where are you,_ Usopp thought as he found the group it was in. A distortion on the sense of taste. Something that people couldn't really live without and would definitely notice if it was funky or gone. Not like Usopp was going to take it away completely. He just wanted to see the young doctor stumped on something.

Usopp didn't even wait for Chopper to go home and go to bed this time. As soon as Chopper was secluded in his room Usopp dropped the flea into his bushy hair and waited for the pop sound. When it went off he eagerly awaited Chopper getting his next meal.

And nothing. A week of Chopper being watched to eat and no complaint that it tasted odd. Nothing about the lack of taste. Just nothing. Usopp didn't want to do this but felt he had no choice. _Time for some of the big guns_ , he thought as he pulled out the Typhus flea from his blanket. _Well, unless I need to make my own_.

Because of the severity of the flea Usopp decided to wait till Chopper got home and had a few days off before he let it bite the young doctor. Usopp wasn't really sure why he did that. Usually he had no qualms about epidemic type diseases invading a large body or people, like at the hospital. Yet this time he felt different. It wasn't just the whole rival thing Usopp felt with Chopper. Sure Usopp wanted to only get Chopper, but there was another part of him that didn't want to make Chopper's job harder than it already was for the young man. Which was ridiculous. Pestilence never cared about the feelings or safety of others when he let something loose onto an individual or a crowd. Yet, after he had watched Chopper for all this time, combat everything not only Usopp threw at him but also what just naturally came through the door, Usopp could see that the young man worked harder than anyone else he had watched in a very long time. There was even a small pang of regret in Usopp when he heard the flea pop after it bit Chopper.

 _Are Horsemen allowed regret?_ Usopp wondered as he watched Chopper through the night and into the next morning.

 _Eight days,_ Usopp thought, _eight days and all Chopper has had is a slight cough and fever._ There was no way for Usopp to know how Chopper was doing this.

He made sure on the fourth day that that the fleas weren't broken or something by having one of them bite someone in the waiting area. Sure enough they got Typhus and the hospital made sure it didn't spread with Chopper's help. But Chopper himself didn't get it. Usopp could only lightly smell it in Choppers system, but that was it. It was so light that he could barely pick it up.

Thoughts of maybe Chopper being immune to Pestilence himself floated through Usopp's mind as he watched Chopper go about a normal day. 

_Time for my own stuff then._ Sitting in his corner in Choppers office Usopp got to work on something that he hoped would get Chopper sick. Because at this point it was no longer about stumping the doctor but just getting him ill. Usopp threw in coughing and fever, since Chopper did sort of experience those. He threw in muscle pain, fatigue, abdominal pain, and some light rectal bleeding. There was a possibility of Chopper experiencing those. _How about some delirium and dizziness as well_ , Usopp thought as he threw those in, adding hearing loss and sight. Mixing them all into one flea, Usopp named it ‘the-got-to-beat-this-doctor-at-my-own-game’ disease. Usopp crossed his fingers as he flicked the flea into Chopper's hair as the man finished some paperwork at his desk. At the pop of the flea disappearing Usopp sniffed the air and could already tell that this flea would also be a failure.

Another week passed with nothing happening except Chopper going out and buying a baby toy. Usopp had absolutely no reason as to how Chopper could not get sick. No idea even came to mind, except that silly thought that Chopper was immune to him, but that was impossible. The only ones immune to Pestilence were his three brothers, and Chopper was not one of them.

Usopp stayed lost in thought as Chopper left the baby store to head for someplace besides his apartment. Usopp didn't really care though. He just wanted to figure this person out.

With the sound of numerous voices welcoming Chopper into another apartment Usopp looked up to where the young man had dragged him. Usopp noticed in all the time he had been with Chopper that the man didn't go out much, and when he did Usopp usually stayed behind in the apartment or hospital working on what to give him or his patients next. But in Usopp's desperate attempts to get the young man sick he figured he should follow him everywhere and see who he sees. Just to see if they are the ones who have provided Chopper with his cures.

No one in the room looked like a doctor. There was a redhead that looked like she was dressed for an executive office, a blue haired man crying over all the baby stuff with a very pregnant woman beside him thanking everyone. It was then that Usopp saw them, a blond man with his hair hanging over one eye and… and War. A very human War, who was staring right at him and had raised the eyebrow of his, now, only eye. He leaned over to the man beside him, who War had his arm wrapped around. He then motioned subtlety for Usopp to follow him and the blond onto a porch at the other side of the room. 

_War is human…_ , Usopp felt like his brain had melted at the discovery. _Why is War human?_ With the question racing through his mind, Usopp followed.


	3. Pestilence talks with War

Usopp decided to stick his head out onto the balcony first before he fully allowed himself to be within War’s range. _The guy has always had a mean streak,_ Usopp thought as he took in Wars appearance. The guy hadn't physically changed much. Still had the stupid muscles and green hair, but was now missing an eye and had a better sense for wearing his hair. But Usopp could see a huge change in the way he held himself. There was no tension, no hate, in the way he stood beside the blond. _He’s lax_ , Usopp realized as he allowed himself to fully emerge onto the balcony where he watched War flick a lighter on for the cigarette between the blond’s lips.

“Those will kill him,” Usopp said off hand, not really knowing where to start the conversation. Sure he had a lot to ask War, but where did he even begin with all of it.

A chuckle rippled out of Wars chest that shocked Usopp still, before he said, “He knows, just doesn't care.”

“He talking bout my cigarette?” The bond asked War. 

Usopp didn't know what to do. War was human. War was human and the blond person with him seemed to know who War was. War was laughing at something that didn't deal with war. _Who is this person_ , Usopp thought.

“Yeah,” another light chuckle emerged from War before he finished speaking to the man beside him, “which is funny since he infects people with worse.” There was mirth in War's eyes. Usopp was used to seeing malice and anger, but it wasn't there anymore. All Usopp saw at that moment was humor and a fondness for the human beside him.

The two shared a look that Usopp had no clue what it could mean before War was looking at him again. He asked, “What are you doing following Chopper around?” 

The blond stood up straight from his slouch with an anger in his eyes that Usopp usually associated with War. “He’s what?”

War sighed as he answered his companions question. “Pestilence arrived with Chopper, shit cook.”

“Why the fuck is he following him?” The blond man asked as curls of smoke billowed out of his nostrils.

War gave his companion a put upon look as he sighed. “If you would shut up for a bit I’ll ask, dart brow.” The blond in question kicked War in the shin causing the man to wince in reply before he turned his eyes back to Usopp.

 _He kicked War_ , Usopp thought. He felt his mind begin to short circuit. There was no way that the green haired human male before him was War. War never would have taken that kick without retaliating in some way. Usopp should know, he had seen it happen many a time between War and Famine. Just to prove to himself how his mind had broken he asked, “His name can't be shit cook or dart brow..., right?” Usopp had no idea where this conversation was planning to go.

War snorted at that before saying, “No, but it's what I call him.”

Before Usopp knew it there was a foot in War's stomach that caused him to bend over and cough as the blond introduced himself. “Names Sanji,” He said in such a contrast from the way he had been dealing with War, “since marimo here won't tell you himself.” Usopp could see that Sanji had no idea where Usopp was since he kept his eyes in the middle distance facing where War had directioned his attention. Usopp heard Sanji mutter, “Asshole,” under his breath as War regained himself and leaned back against the railing of the balcony.

War winced a little and held his stomach as he said, “Why are you following Chopper?”

Usopp had no where for his mind to go. It couldn't seem to comprehend every absurd thing going on around him. So he went to one thing he knew he did feel, frustration at Chopper. “He cures everything.”

War nodded like it made sense to him. “Sounds like him.”

No, War couldn't understand. “You don't get it War.” Usopp felt like pulling his hair out again. He didn't stop himself from reaching up to tug on fist fulls. “I mean everything, EVERYTHING.” There was a slight hysteria in his tone, brought on from his frustration with Chopper but also with how War didn't seem himself. “Nothing I throw at him is a challenge.”

War just nodded again. “Yeah, sounds like him.” His hand went up to scratch the back of his head in thought as Usopp felt like he lost just a bit more of himself.

“War, you don't get it.” Usopp paced before the men on the balcony. Well, floated back and forth, but it still helped him think and sort through things. “He doesn't even get sick. I’ve tried.” Here Usopp turned to War like he wanted the changed man to understand his frustration. “I gave him Typhus and nothing happened.”

“Typhus, huh.” War barely acknowledged Usopp's mental state. Instead it seemed like he was thinking about the past. “You did like spreading that one around during my wars.”

Sanji, who had been listening to the exchange, had gone from calm to livid at the mention of Typhus. “He fucking gave Chopper typhus!” There was an anger to Sanji's eyes that Usopp did not want to see directed at him. Usopp could tell that the man War was with had a worse temper than War's own. “I’m gonna fucking strangle you shitty invisible asshole.” He even made to move forward towards Usopp who did float back at the anger and threat seeping out of the man.

War just placed his hand lightly on Sanji's shoulder. “Chill, love cook.” He pulled the simmering man back to him and wrapped his arm around Sanji's waist to kept him at the railing. “Yes, he gave it to him, but-” Sanji tried to move again, making War latch on with his other hand as he said quickly, “Will you fucking listen, cook?” Sanji turned his attention to War while still fuming. Usopp could feel himself trying to make himself be more invisible to the world than he already was. War said calmly in Sanji's ear, “But Chopper seems to be immune,” and here he turned back to Usopp “right?” War waited for Usopp to nod before he loosened his hold on Sanji and nodded as well. “How is he immune?” War finally asked.

Usopp felt himself uncurling from himself. He had never wanted a turtle shell as much as in that moment. “I don't know and it's driving me crazy.” He said with slight hesitation. “I’ve been sending all these really nasty things into him, but they never take.” He shot his eyes over to Sanji, fearing the man might have heard him that one time.

War just looked up to the sky thinking to himself. “Hmm, wonder if it's cause he's friends with me," War finally voiced.

Usopp thought about it, and it seemed the most logical reason. The other Horsemen were immune to Pestilence so it made sense that those they were around for a long time might get the immunity too. Which brought up the thing Usopp had pushed away with his frustration. “About that…,” He looked War up and down before he voiced, “Why are you human?”

War stared at him. It was several minutes and another lit cigarette for Sanji before he answered. “I did it during the war about three and a half years ago.” He shrugged, like it was an average thing for him or any Horseman to do. “I watched Sanji’s platoon and got curious about some things.”

Usopp felt like he was in shock yet again. _War was curious? What the hell could he have been curious about,_ Usopp thought. He then asked, “You got curious?”

One of War's eyebrows lifted, “Yeah,” he said. “It can't be that hard to believe.”

Usopp begged to differ. He had never known War to show curiosity. “A little.” The curiously poured though Usopp making him ask, “What happened?”

War shrugged like he was slightly embarrassed by his answer, or maybe he didn't really want to. “I wanted to know why Sanji did somethings he did during the war.” His free hand not holding Sanji's waist went to scratch the back of his neck, only to prove Usopp was right that War was nervous. Another thing Usopp didn't know could happen. “Then I had the War practically kicked out of me.” There was even red on War's cheeks.

“Ummm," Usopp had no idea where to go with this, "that can't happen because you are War,” he finally settled on, but it still didn't feel right because this person infront of him wasn't really War. He was in War's image, but nothing else.

The look Usopp got from that was condescending, like War knew that and thought that Usopp did too. “I know that, Pest.”

Usopp felt the hairs on him prickle at the nickname. “Don't call me that.” He hated that nickname.

“You call Pestilence, Pest.” Sanji was standing straighter on the rail looking at War like what he just learned was the best thing he had heard all day. Which going by what Usopp had added to their conversation maybe it had been. “Why is that so fucking funny," he commented before he started to snicker to himself.

War had a smug look on his face when Usopp looked back to him. “I do it cause he hates it.” Usopp didn't know if he could look anymore upset about what was happening. He was being made fun of by War and his human boyfriend, who couldn't even see Usopp. War seemed to take pity on him and became serious again when he said, “I know who I am, Pest. Doesn't mean that I haven’t changed and want to stop feeding wars.”

Usopp swore he felt his jaw hit the floor. There was no way. “You've…,” he didn't even have words to express how crazy War sounded. “No way.” That was it. That was all Usopp could get out of himself. Memories of War throughout the years surfaced. Ones of War smiling at the carnage going on below him, at the deaths that came to him, and the blood spilled on the earth. “You were always the one that loved their job most.” That was it. Usopp's brain had officially called it quits and left the building. “What changed?”

All War could do at the question was to look at his free hand and then to Sanji's before he said so quietly Usopp had to lean in to hear it, “I killed people with my own hands.” Usopp wasn't sure if that was really enough to change War, but apparently it was. War went on in the same tone as he looked up into Sanji's eyes. “I met someone and fell in love.” A little sad smile flitted across both of their faces before War turned back to Usopp and finished with, “I realized life is more precious than we Horsemen think.”

He was at a loss. “You've…,” there was nothing in Usopp's head that could express how much he didn't fully understand or want to. “You’ve been tamed.” He finished with instead.

War shrugged his shoulders at that. “Tamed isn't how I would put it.”

Usopp heard Sanji snort beside him and mutter, “I've got the reins to his horse now.”

“Idiot.” War shook his head in fond exasperation before he directed an intense gaze at Usopp. “I’ve curbed my desire for war is all.” Here he looked at Usopp, taking in his appearance and most likely noting his missing plague mask. “Looking at you, Pest, I can see that your desire to spread your plague has slowed.”

Usopp wasn't sure what it was War was seeing in him but he had the need to vehemently deny the claim. “No it hasn't!” He crossed his arms across his chest, disturbing his bow in the process. “Nothing has changed with me at all.” Usopp felt what he said was a lie, but he didn't know why it felt like that.

“You'll understand soon.” War smiled at him before Sanji grabbed his arm.

“Come on, Zoro. Let's go back in now.” Sanji said as he dragged War, whose human name was apparently Zoro, back to the sliding doors.

“Enjoy the party, Pest.” War lifted a hand in a wave as he entered the apartment behind his boyfriend. “Hope to see you around again.”

Usopp had no idea where that conversation had taken him. All he knew was that he could feel something in him change even more when it ended.


	4. Pestilence cures

The party was a blur till the time Chopper decided to leave. War… no, Zoro, left Usopp's mind in a flurry of nonsense. _What could Wa-, Zoro, mean that my desire has curbed?_ Usopp thought as he watched Chopper get to bed later that night.

At least Usopp now had a more logical explanation for why Chopper was immune to everything Usopp shoved into him. _Zoro has been around him for awhile,_ Usopp thought. _And if I understood correctly from the conversation, it's been at least three years._ Usopp knew there was no way Chopper would be able to contract anything from him now. The knowledge left Usopp feeling bereft of his new favorite toy. _But,_ he realized, _I can still infect those at the hospital and watch him flounder with those._ Even as Usopp thought it he knew he wasn't going to get the same sort of satisfaction with having Chopper cure things quickly. The only thing Usopp realized he enjoyed anymore was watching how quickly and efficiently Chopper dealt with his patients. Yet even that didn't really give anything to Usopp except the feeling that he was missing something. _Maybe Zoro has a point_ , Usopp thought the next day as Chopper made his rounds at the hospital. _Maybe my desire has faltered, but I still don't see life like Zoro does now._

Usopp found himself watching Chopper during most of his visits with patients instead of watching the way he handled the illness itself. He saw Chopper listen carefully to each of the people he talked to, he took notes, and did research. Usopp watched as Chopper poured everything he knew into each consultation and each diagnosis.

He watched as three weeks later Chopper had to tell someone that he couldn't help them. And he later watched Chopper break down in his office crying that he was useless.

Usopp understood. He watched the tears slide down Chopper's freckled cheeks, something he never noticed all this time, as his dark brown eyes, something else Usopp didn't bother to look at, turned red and puffy. He listened to the first words he had consciously wanted to hear from Chopper tumble from the man's lips in a jumble of incoherent babble.

“Why… need more… research… get better than this… have to help everyone.”

Usopp knew that the young man Chopper had just talked to had no cure available for him from this hospital or any other. Ebola wasn't something that humans had found a cure to yet. Sure they had ways to help people recover from the worse of it, but that didn't mean they were cured. Usopp knew that no one had found a way to fully heal those with it but he also knew the way to do it. He continued to listen to Chopper's tears fall onto his desk and Usopp began to make a flea that could heal the young man Chopper was crying over.

In the past weeks of just watching Chopper, Usopp had come to see what Zoro was talking about. About how life was precious. If it wasn't for Chopper fighting him all this time Usopp would have never seen it on his own. Chopper fought for those who couldn't save themselves, so Usopp decided to help Chopper help those he couldn't save on his own.

With flea in hand Usopp made his way to the young man's room. He came in with a fever, muscle and joint pains, and a headache that hadn't gone away in days. Now the young man had abdominal pains. _He is moving quickly_ , Usopp thought as he placed the flea on the man's arm and watched it bit down. Usopp knew it was going to take time and hoped, a new feeling for him, that Chopper would see what he made to combat it.

A week later and Chopper was ecstatic at his patient's recovery, that his body managed to cure itself all on its own. Usopp listened to Chopper's happy babble as he talked to his patient and then again as he was in his office going over all the paperwork and tests to see how it happened.

Usopp decided then, watching Chopper's excited expression, that he could do more than just infect people with their deaths. He could heal them too.

It took time, but Usopp changed himself into something better. Something Zoro could be proud of the next time they met. His blanket now only held a handful of fleas, all containing the ‘we-can-cure-anything-we-want’ disease. His bow string no longer crossed his chest but now hung at his side broken and useless. The long coat of the plague doctor was gone replaced by what Usopp had heard people call overalls, and his crown had dulled its shine. That was something Usopp should have noticed had happened, and was sure Zoro had, when his feeling had begun to shift long ago.

He was now someone he felt Chopper would be proud to know, if Usopp ever decided to show himself. A thought for another time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Remember if I left out any tags you think should be added, please let me know. Also about spelling, grammar, or tense mistakes.
> 
> Thanks!


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